I might have been hiding lately...

...But I'm still here!

Blackout

Everyone knows what a blackout is, yes? Some people have medically related blackouts, some have anger blackouts, and then there's me: I have knitting blackouts. What do I mean by this? I mean I sat down to talk with a [close] friend last night and about three hours later I had 3/4 of a children's hat completed.

I don't [consciously] remember choosing to make this hat, finding the yarn, downloading the pattern, checking gauge (okay, realistically I know I didn't check gauge on this one), or any of the other preparation type activities that go into starting a new project. I'm starting to think that this might be the cause of my accumulated WIP collection though....sigh. I give you: Thorpe
Mr. pumpkin is hiding underneath this time...maybe he's camera shy tonight, who knows. Anyway, this hat was made for my fantastic manager's [sited here] daughter, Allie. She will be turning 2 in April, and cozy hats are never too plentiful this time of year in Wisconsin! Here are the stats:

Pattern: Thorpe
Designer: Kirsten Kapur
Needles: US 10 Addi turbo circulars
Yarn: Plymouth yarn Indiecita Baby Alpaca Grande
Start date: sometime (?) early a.m. 2/18 End Date: Afternoon 2/18

So exactly what happened during those hours between midnight and 3am, nobody will ever know. What is known is that a cute and simple toddler hat was born in the process. Modifications? Well, my gauge was obviously smaller so that's how I go the hat to be kiddy sized. Since the pattern size was making the hat longer and I didn't know Allie's actual head size, I opted to leave off the earflap part, despite how cute it would have been. Also, I used magic loop from the top down which was challenging at first, but better than futzing with DPNs in my opinion (also I didn't have any, and in my "haze" I decided I didn't care). The alpaca knit up so smooth and dense, and the double thickness of the colors will really help keep Allie warm!

Also, here is a shot of my pet chicklet helping me show off the other label Lindsey graciously gifted. This one is a little more feminine than the one I sewed into Koolhas, and I love them both equally.

And yes. I know that's not a real chicken, but I don't have cute cats to drape my knitting over...wind up toys will have to do.

Absence Makes the Gauge Grow Smaller

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I leave my mittens alone for 2 weeks and what do they do? They changed gauge on me! (as if this is their fault...). Sometimes I forget that I'm controlling my knitting and not the other way around. It's almost as if I look down and smile sweetly (like one would do to a small child) and think "Ohhh, is that what we're doing now?". Sigh. Essentially my change in gauge means that my mittens actually started to fit rather than being fit for, say, a linebacker. Well, at least a linebacker with huge hands.This not only was my first experience with stranded knitting but also my first run-in with the Kitchener stitch. Now, after hearing horror stories about this part of the finishing process, I was a little tentative to sit down and do it. Who wants to ruin their weekend with that? However, being the "go-get-em" college student that I am, I decided to tackle this move in one play (yes, I am looking forward to the Superbowl).
Despite a minor error on my part (which was conveniently blurred in this photo), the grafting was completely seamless (ba da-bum *ching* hehe). But in all seriousness, it really was quite simple! Primarily because I was following Sandi Wiseheart (of Knitting Daily)'s guide to Grafting on the Needles. Now, I don't know if her tricks are any easier than a normal one (since this is my first time) but this description was definitely easy to remember & execute! So there you have it. Updated photos + me well on my way to staying true to my promise! I consider that success.

An Intentional Accident

Okay. I'll come right out and say it: I like the way dark purple looks with yellow.
Call me crazy (you're crazy!) but I just think that those two colors make an attractive pair. Why is this a problem? I'll tell you: last night I was reminded by my brother's fiance [Keri] that, as nice as purple and yellow are together, that they belong to a certain Minnesota football team that will go un-named. Okay, maybe they won't go un-named-- it's the Vikings. Am I a Vikings fan? No way. Do I love the Packers? Absolutely I do.
Now, that all being said, when I chose the colors for these mittens I was absolutely intentional about choosing my colors (as before mentioned, I think yellow+eggplant = fantastic)--my accident was not realizing I was inadvertently supporting the Vikings by doing this. None of this would really matter, but with my college being so close to Minnesota, I feel like I'm going to have to make a disclaimer every time I wear my new mittens! Uff da.

Now that THAT'S covered, I can talk about the mittens themselves and how much I love working on them! This is my first colorwork project and I must say it is not only addicting but is very enjoyable to work on! Here are the Stats:

Pattern: Bird-in-Hand mittens by Kate Gilbert
Made for: My Green Bay Packer loving hands
Yarn: 1 skein Cascade 220 Goldenrod & 1 skein Cascade 220 Royal Purple
Needles: US 2 Addi Turbo circs
Date Started: 1/18

I've always prefered chart reading so that's not really the obstacle here. The color work is going faster as I practice more, and I'm finding that I want to work on them more just to see the pattern developing. I suppose this is probably a common condition among knitters who stranded color projects. I will be posting updated progress of my identity confused mittens as they progress--in the mean time, GO PACK GO!